Congressman Jim Renacci Enters Race For Governor

A Republican congressman from northeast Ohio is the second to officially file paperwork to run for Governor in 2018. And he seems to be channeling a Trump-like approach.

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Congressman Jim Renacci from Wadsworth, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, says his working-class roots and business acumen make him qualified to be Ohio’s next Governor.

“I’ve started my own business at age 24, created over 1500 jobs, employed 3000 people, had 60 different businesses throughout the state of Ohio.”

Though he’s a four-term Congressman, Renacci has been positioning himself as an outsider, and his campaign slogan “Ohio First” has a Trump tone. Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor filed paperwork to run for the office last month. Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted are also expected to seek their party’s nomination. On the Democratic side, Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, former State Representative Connie Pillich and former congresswoman Betty Sutton have launched bids to be their party’s candidate for Governor.

Constituents around the country are packing public forums with their members of Congress to air their grievances with the federal government. These town halls have set the stage for disruptive protesting and many Republican leaders in Ohio have opted to ditch an appearance all together. There's one conservative member of Congress who says he’ll take another approach.

There were a lot of topics covered by Gov. John Kasich in a speech to a group of newspaper executives and editors. He focused mostly on his budget, but also about who he wants to see replace him in 2018.